Mia Scarpa is fabulous as Dolly Levi, the headstrong widow and matchmaker.

Don't miss the feel good musical "Hello Dolly!" now on stage at Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre.

Baker Theatre explodes in color, dance and music in an effervescent confection directed with aplomb by Charles Richter that leaves audiences smiling and humming the title tune.

Mia Scarpa is fabulous as Dolly Levi, the headstrong widow and matchmaker. As she sings "I Put My Hand In" early in the show, it's clear she already has the audience firmly in the palm of her hand.

Scarpa is charismatic as Dolly. She is charming and a touch overwhelming even for cantankerous widower Horace Vandergelder, played with just the right amount of benign bluster by Jarrod Yuskauskas. Dolly is utterly unflappable and possessing of a hearty appetite as she guides everyone around her, including the cranky Vandergelder, into their meant-to-be matches.

She also shines in her powerful solos — "Before The Parade Passes By," "So Long, Dearie" and the title song.

Ryan Skerchak is engaging as the slightly goofy, put-upon clerk Cornelius Hackl, who concocts a scheme to escape the feed store and go to New York, where he falls for sweet, but spunky widow and hat shop proprietor Irene Molloy, played by Eileen Veghte. The two are especially charming in "It Only Takes a Moment."

Song and dance numbers by the couples, along with ensemble members, such as "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" and "Dancing," are just pure delight as girls in brightly colored frocks with the gents in matching coats twirl about the stage.

Elissa Wells wears a bit as the whiny Ermengarde, but I think that's the point, and Ryan King is her very patient beau Ambrose.

Alyssa Haning has a brief, but hilarious bit as the over-the-top Ernestina Money.

But it is Scarpa's show. The signature number "Hello Dolly!" is a showstopper from the moment Dolly appears at the top of the stairs of the Harmonia Gardens, clad in an extravagant gold and red gown with a huge red feather hat. The music, singing and choreography come together seemlessly in one joyous number.

Choreographer Karen Dearborn's dances are wonderful and the show's talented team of male dancers are just extraordinary. A highlight is the waiter's gallop in the Harmonia Gardens, which includes juggling, balancing, acrobatics as well as exceptional dancing. The waiters also add immeasurably to the "Hello Dolly!" scene, even leaping over the opening for the orchestra pit, and throw in some nice harmonies to "It Takes a Woman."

Set designer Campbell Baird has created a series of great sets, from the multilevel feed store in which Cornelius and Barnaby pop up out of a basement to an amusing cartoonlike train that spews smokes as it moves across stage.

The 11-piece orchestra led by musical director Michael Schnack may not be visible but can be distinctly heard.